LETTER: Don’t count on Congress to restock pantries

I appreciate reading the story “Don’t count on Congress to restock pantries.” It’s a column that should be read by all members of the Tea Party caucus who are intent on continuing their assault on the children of our nation and redefining the American dream.

Being a believer in the American dream means our nation shall not turn our eyes away from the legions of children who are dependent on federal food subsidizes, and without, untold millions of children will wake up facing unforgivable hunger. Keep in mind, our U.S. military industrial complex has no problem spending $500 million on one military super-fighter aircraft and unknown trillions invested in the caducous “War on Terror.”

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U.S. Rep. Levin is also very right-minded in his support for the passage of the Farm and Agricultural Bill by reminding his House colleagues to “keep in mind that nearly half of all food stamp recipients are children.” Levin’s colleagues, most especially those in the Tea Party caucus, need to wisen up and do the right thing by not afflicting more children with hunger and hopelessness.

There are scores of us in Oakland County and throughout Michigan who were raised on federal government assistance and the much needed monthly allotment of U.S. food stamps, defined in contemporary terms as Bridge Cards.

I know my great and wonderful mom needed food stamps to feed our family. And our family is forever grateful for receiving food stamps, as is my Cuban emigre brother-in-law and his family of eight brothers and sisters who were dependent on U.S. government assistance food stamps when their parents family made the courageous decision in the 1960s to escape the Castro regime. My dear wife’s brother and spouse who live in the thumb region also have needed help feeding three growing teenage children with the assistance of the federally funded Michigan Bridge Card program, and they are also the son and daughter of U.S. military veterans who fought in World War II and Korea to preserve the greatness of our national identity.

The impressment of hunger on children by Tea Party caucus members in the U.S. Congress is not a greatness our nation shall be proud of, nor shall our nation accept. Stripping food stamps from harmless children is an identity crisis which dishonors our American tenets of freedom and democracy.

The super-majority of children who grew up in food stamps are better Americans because of the assistance we received in our childhood. It’s past time for the U.S. Congress to cut the partisan polarization and expeditiously pass the Farm and Agricultural Bill without further crucifying the health and well-being of innocuous children who face poverty and hunger on a daily basis through no fault of their own.

Kenneth Hreha

Dryden

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